1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling a portable terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for unlocking a locking mode of a portable terminal in a portable terminal having a touch screen.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, as communication technologies have rapidly developed, portable terminal functions become more and more sophisticated, and various user interfaces and various functions using such user interfaces are now being provided and have greatly increased the usefulness and popularity of such devices.
In particular, a portable terminal having a touch screen includes various methods of input device locking/unlocking functions in order to prevent unnecessary input errors while in an idle state, as inadvertent contact while the terminal is clipped to one's waist or in one's bag can create unexpected problems with use.
Conventionally, a portable terminal unlocks a locking mode by an input of a password, which is defined in advance, or is defined by user's setting in order to unlock the locking mode (touch screen hold state), or unlocks the locking mode using an unlocking key which is separately prepared.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional methods, user may forget the password, and a user, who desires to quickly unlock the locking mode, may feel inconvenienced by having to type in a combination of numbers and letters. In addition, in case of the conventional unlocking of the locking mode, when the unlocking of the locking mode is completed, the initial menu of the portable terminal is displayed. Hence, in case the portable terminal user desires to use a specific function of the portable terminal after the locking mode is unlocked, the user is required to inconveniently perform the process of entering prompts in the menu for performing the particular function user desires to use.